Finding His Home
by PsychicDreams
Summary: Watanuki is getting thrown out of his apartment and Doumeki makes an unexpected offer. How well will the boy who sees spirits get along with his rival's family?
1. Chapter 1

It was the third day this week that Watanuki had spent the entire lunch period pouring over the newspaper, desperately looking for something. He was so absorbed, that he neglected his own lunch, and even Himawari when she did join them. She had been showing up to lunch less and less, looking into different colleges and going over her options.

They were in there senior year now, having made it through high school alive was what made it truly important to them. Most people would have meant that half jokingly, but over the last year or so, Yuuko's jobs had been one close call after another for the boys. Making it through alive was more than just an achievement.

Doumeki enjoyed the fact that he could eat without worrying about his eardrums blowing out, but it was never a good thing when Watanuki was too quiet. When Watanuki went quiet, it meant trouble of some sort. The last time they had been nearly eaten by a strange houseplant he had received from an anonymous source and had turned out to be some sort of spirit in disguise.

Quiet Watanuki was a bad thing.

"Oi."

"…"

"Oi, idiot, you there?"

"What? My name is _not_ 'Oi' _or_ 'idiot'!" Watanuki yelled at him, coming out of his little newspaper world. "What do you want anyway?"

"For lunch tomorrow I want yaki soba and shrimp." Doumeki said, talking a bit of today's bento. "And you put to much salt in this."

_"If you don't like it, don't eat it!"_ That was the ear piercing scream he was used to. Doumeki braced himself as Watanuki paused, drawing in a deep breath. "I _**don't**_ take orders!"

He pulled his fingers out of his ears, not for the first time impressed with the lung capacity of the smaller and almost frail looking boy, even if he didn't show it on his face. "What are you looking at?"

Watanuki blinked at the sudden change in topic before folding the newspaper and stuffing it into his bag. "I was looking at the newspaper, even you should know what that is."

Doumeki shrugged. "I was asking about the section idiot; what were you looking for?"

"Nothing! Am I not allowed to read the newspaper now?" Watanuki flailed, causing his glasses to slide down the bridge of his nose.

Doumeki reached over and gently pushed the glasses back into place. "You were reading like you were searching for something, that's all."

Watanuki tried to bat his hand away, but was too slow. "So, even if I was, it's none of your business."

He made sure to glance at the newspaper when Watanuki turned away. There was a small part of it still sticking up from the corner of the bag and it clearly read "Apartments" on it. It didn't take a genius to figure out what Watanuki looking at the apartment section meant. Had money really gotten that tight?

They separated from lunch, Doumeki's mind still running over the challenges ahead. He had no doubt that Watanuki would be going to college, but how could he afford the books, let alone the tuition, if he had to also pay for an apartment, even if he had a roommate? What about the life insurance checks he was receiving? Did they stop or were they just not enough to keep up with the monetary demands of Watanuki's admittedly penny-pinching life?

Archery practice had gotten so easy, thanks to Yuuko's jobs, that he didn't even have to concentrate anymore to hit the target. His thoughts kept going in the same circle and he didn't even notice Yuuko at first, standing out of the way and in the shadows of one of the targets.

She didn't approach until all the other members had gone home for the day. Yuuko's presence usually meant something bad and he waited for it. What would it be this time? Playing errand boy again? Destroy some demon or another? And Doumeki didn't even get _paid_ for the stuff he did.

The Dimensional Witch chuckled at his wary stance. "My, my, you certainly aren't leaping for joy." His face remained unchanged and though he didn't role his eyes, somehow the meaning got across anyway, somehow. "I assume you know by now what Watanuki's been searching for?"

"An apartment," he supplied, turning to put his bow away.

"Quite. They're kicking him out." She examined her nails in a predatory fashion, as if they were claws and was obviously waiting for a specific response.

"Why doesn't he live with you? He works for you every day."

It was apparently not something she was expecting, since her unfettered laughter ran around him like little musical notes that had grown feet and were dancing. The very strange analogy, now that he thought about it, could only attest to how long he'd been dealing with not only Yuuko but also Watanuki. They had certainly rubbed off on him.

She had tears in her eyes when she looked up again. "Doumeki-kun, you're hilarious! Do you actually think that Watanuki would _ever_ live with me?"

The image formed in his mind of how Watanuki would react if he had asked that question, it came to him easily: he'd either froth at the mouth in rage or fall over dead in a heart attack. It was a toss up as to which it was, but there could be no other response. The boy was volatile that way, he thought fondly, and almost smiled.

"But I'm _sure_ you can help him," she teased and turned to leave.

Wait, that was _it?_ Just come, mention about the apartment and _leave_? "Didn't you have a job for us?"

Yuuko glanced over her shoulder and put on her most mysterious smile. "Nope."

Watanuki ran a hand through his hair, leaning over what he guessed was the seven hundredth newspaper. There was _nothing_. Everything was either too expensive, or, if it was in his price range, too far away. Like there was some dark force working against him. Yuuko would have called it hitsuzen, but then again, she called everything hitsuzen. Maybe it was, for all he knew, this could have been some small part of a large, complicated cosmic scheme he would never know the true extent of. But even if it was, he didn't like to think about things in those terms.

He was getting kicked out of his apartment, school was taking its toll on his funds, and the noise some of the recent spirit incidents had caused had put him on the bad side of his neighbors. It wasn't like he could explain his situation to them, they would probably have him committed, and that would _not_ help his situation.

His neighbors, as was, already thought he was off his rocker. He heard them whispering to each other when he passed by them sometimes. How he wasn't quite right, and to just think about how different he would be if his parents were still around. At first, such whispers had stung, now he just mentally shook his head at them; even if his parents _were_ still around, that wouldn't stop the spirits.

He was getting desperate, only a week to go and he would be homeless. Desperate meant that if all else failed he would be asking Yuuko, just the thought made him shudder; not only would he be living with the strangest person he had ever met, including every spirit he had ever encountered, but also it would put him in even more debt when he was already working with no end in sight.

As it was, he had exhausted all other options, short of searching on the internet, but that was _not_ an option for him. He didn't own a computer anyway, or a television or even a radio for that matter, but they just wasted electricity and, therefore, money he didn't have to waste.

Pulling out another newspaper, he flipped to the page he wanted and resumed his search. Scanning first location to narrow down his options, then price. The price oh real estate had gone up in the last month, so badly his wallet hurt, and all the books he had had to buy for school were taking their toll. But, he still had a week to go, and a week was more than enough time to make things work in his favor.

This is Oro-chan's story that I helped her out with. Orochimaruhan and I posted on the xxxholic and the doumekiwatanuki livejournal communities. We also don't own xxxholic. 


	2. Chapter 2

Doumeki caught up with Watanuki after class, a few days later, as he was hurriedly stuffing his things into his bag. Himawari was nowhere to be found, thankfully. He didn't need her dimwitted twitters about how great friends they were right then. It would only make it more difficult to convince Watanuki that this _was_ the only course of action left to him.

He dropped the key onto the desk, and the metallic sound that ensued caught the frantic boy's attention. Eyes behind the glasses blinked and he slowly looked up to Doumeki. Instead of immediate anger, there was suspicion and he even shifted to move away from the key, as if it would somehow come to life on it's own and fly toward him to brand him with fiery fury.

"What the hell is that?"

"A key."

"I CAN SEE THAT, YOU BASTARD! WHAT'S IT FOR?!"

"The key to the front door."

Watanuki's patience was coming to its end, but Doumeki couldn't help it. He enjoyed, far too much, making the bespectacled boy angry. He found it was one of the true joys of his life and he loved to watch as Watanuki's eyes would light up with irritation.

"You make me say what's it for again and I'll kill you!"

He sighed and inwardly smiled. "It's a key to my house. I've already cleared it with my family."

For once, Watanuki seemed so completely confused that it was beyond comical. His head tilted to the side and Doumeki could practically _see_ the huge question mark above his head like some anime or manga character.

"What on earth are you talking about?" His voice was quizzical, instead of angry, as if he truly had no clue how things had gotten to this.

"You were looking for a new apartment, correct? You can live at the temple with me. There's my grandmother, father, and mother there too." He should fit right in, and his mother would adore him to death once she got a taste of his cooking.

"I AM NOT MOVING IN WITH YOU!" Watanuki shrieked, clamping his hands over his mouth when he realized they were still in the school.

"I'll be by your place after your work, and we can start moving your stuff out." Doumeki turned around to leave, hearing only Watanuki's yells behind him, a satisfied, and amused smile graced the stoic boy's lips.

He blinked from the small key resting in the pale, out stretched hand to angry blue eyes.

"Take it back," Watanuki ordered.

"It's yours." He explained again, as if reminding a small child.

"I don't want it!" The key was shoved into Doumeki's face.

He just blinked at it again.

"There's no way I could stand seeing your face ever day." Watanuki clarified as if _he_ was talking to a small child.

"You do anyway." The archer pointed out.

Watanuki finally seemed to snap. "I DON'T TAKE CHARITY!"

So that was what this was all about; Doumeki didn't offer charity anyway. "I never said it was charity, you'll have to earn you keep. There are more than enough chores that need doing around the temple."

"SEE! I _knew_ it!" Watanuki pointed accusingly. "There was more to this than what you said."

"You would have to pay for an apartment anyway." Watanuki opened his mouth to argue, but he cut him off. "It's basically the same thing, but we don't want your money. We need the help."

Watanuki snapped his mouth shut, fuming, and obviously looking for something to say.

"You might want to hurry and get going, or you'll be late for work." Doumeki walked past the still silent boy. Only when he was gone did Watanuki realized he still held they key.

"…stupid, no good, tricky, cheating…" Watanuki listed off all of the worst traits in his rival, under his breath, as he swept. Sure he only had two days left until he had to be out of his apartment, but he was more than capable of handling himself.

"What's eating you, Watanuki?" Yuuko's voice intruded on his thoughts.

He glared at his employer from the corner oh his eye as he continued working. "Nothing but the usual: that jerk Doumeki."

"Oh, is that so? What did he do this time?" The way she looked at him sent shivers down his spine.

"Nothing, he didn't do anything." Muttering, he went back to his work. Every now and then, he cast a glance over his shoulder at a very pleased looking Yuuko. It was when she smiled like that, when she reminded him of nothing more than the cat who had caught the proverbial mouse, that he knew she was some part of his problem.

This is Oro-chan's story that I helped her out with. Orochimaruhan and I posted on the xxxholic and the doumekiwatanuki livejournal communities. We also don't own xxxholic. 


	3. Chapter 3

The door swung inward, and he stepped inside, not bothering to kick off his shoes. What did he care if the floors got dirty, he wouldn't be cleaning them. Doumeki followed his lead, coming into the small apartment for the first time in the years they had been working together. The first time Doumeki saw it would also be the last, and only in boxes.

Everything but a few changes of clothes, a few other basic things, and his spirit wards were packed up. He had one empty box set aside for what was left out when he left, which was looking like today. He didn't know why he had agreed to this. He had been debating it the entire day at work, but had finally come to the conclusion that he really didn't have much else in the way of options.

It was Doumeki's or asking Yuuko for help.

"There's not much to move," Doumeki said, eyes sweeping over the small apartment.

"Of course not, I live alone, and I'm hardly here anyway. I don't need a lot of stuff," Watanuki snapped in response. "You said you came to help me move stuff, so don't just stand there. Grab a box and move."

The archer shrugged, picking up a nondescript brown box labeled books and carrying it outside. Watanuki glared at his back until he was out of the apartment, setting his current burden on the counter, and then picked up his own box, following his own orders.

Within an hour, that included lots of yelling from the bespectacled boy until the neighbors came and yelled at _him_, they had almost everything gone, giving the place a very barren feeling.

"We've been working long enough, let's eat something." Watanuki said, calling them both to a temporary stop. Doumeki only nodded, looking like he didn't care one way or another. The bespectacled boy opened the bag on the counter, pulling out the food he had prepared at Yuuko's, she had been… kind enough… to allow him the use of her kitchen to make their dinner beforehand since all of his things were packed away.

They sat down, opposite each other, on the barren floor, hungrily digging into the still warm food. It wasn't often that Watanuki made spaghetti, but it was one of his favorite foods, so he ate in silence, enjoying this brief reprieve from his life.

"My mother says she can't wait to finally meet you."

Watanuki choked. "W…What? Finally?"

"Yeah, she kept telling me to bring you over, but the few times you did come to the temple she missed you," Doumeki said, looking bored with the subject even though he had brought it up.

"_You told her about me?_" His chopsticks were frozen halfway from his mouth to the bento as he glared over them at his archrival. "What did you tell her that I'm an idiot or something?"

Doumeki shrugged, "I may have mentioned you once or twice, nothing important." He went back to eating, apparently more interested in his food.

Watanuki went back to eating, letting the topic drop, but still glaring suspiciously at the archer.

They stepped inside the door to Doumeki's, and now his, home. It felt odd being there. Even at first glance the place was _much_ bigger than his own. It was clean and well kept, if not the sterile environment his apartment had been, and pictures lined the walls. It had a warm, welcoming feeling to it.

He had never seen the inside of the house before, just like over the years Doumeki had never seen his home, and now he would be living in it.

"Come on, I'll show you around." Doumeki cut into his thoughts, bringing him back to the present. They removed their shoes and put them on the rack, replacing them with house slippers before they began the tour.

It was the basic house: bedrooms, bathrooms, living room, and kitchen. Everything he had lived with before, just on a much larger scale. His bedroom would be just down the hall from Doumeki's; the archer's parents were in another part of the house, as was his grandmother.

"This is the kitchen." The same detailed explanation he had given of everything else in the house, even accompanied by an outstretched hand to indicate what room he was talking about.

The room was a cozy, well-lit place, somewhere Watanuki could tell he would enjoy cooking. He didn't have much time to admire it though.

"You must be Watanuki-kun!" An excited voice greeted him. A small, middle-aged woman came up to him. She was every indication of a young beauty gracefully ageing. "Shizuka's told me so much about you." Watanuki was in shock. "Don't be shy, come sit down, I'll make you some tea."

Shaking his head to clear it, he slowly moved to do as he had been told, pulling out a chair and taking a cautious seat. "You're nothing like him," he said in wonder.

"Oh no, he takes after his father in looks." Doumeki's mother waved her hand in a dismissive gesture, completely missing what Watanuki had meant. "How rude of me, my name is Natsuko, it's nice to finally get to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you to, and thank you for allowing me to stay here." Watanuki felt overwhelmed. He had not been expecting so much motherly energy, and it made him wonder just where Doumeki Shizuka got his personality.

"Not at all dear. When Doumeki told us that you needed some place to stay, we were just so happy that he would finally be introducing us to a friend, we were more than happy to agree." Doumeki pulled out the chair next to his and sat down, listening to his mother with an ever-so-slight upward curl to his lips.

If Doumeki's mother was a surprise, his grandmother was a shock. There was no comparison to the two women. Where Natsuko was lithe and short, she was stocky and tall. And the smile she gave him, amid wrinkles and white hair, made a shiver go down his spine. It reminded him of Yuuko's smiles when she had found something extremely interesting and he had the sudden thought of "matchmaker".

"It's nice to meet you, Watanuki-kun," she said, her voice strong despite her age and her hands were as firm as if she were twenty. "Shizuka never brings home any friends at all, much less…" She trailed off and Watanuki tilted his head in confusion. Much less what? A girlfriend? She had probably been trying for years to get Doumeki a girlfriend, which was another surprise.

"So there he is!" The booming voice was reminiscent of his classmate's, except this one was warm and lively, unlike the expressionless tone of Doumeki's.

Watanuki's brain had gone into overload mode with meeting Doumeki's three relatives in the space of half an hour. All were absolutely nothing like he'd expected. Somehow, he had been expecting three more clones of varying ages of the boy that drove him up the wall.

It was when he was left alone with Doumeki's grandmother, Rei, that he had the opportunity to ask where he had gotten his attitude and personality. Doumeki Kaoru couldn't have been friendlier. In fact, in combination with his wife, Watanuki felt as if two suns were shining down on him, what with all the smiles.

"Where does Doumeki—I mean, Shizuka get his…" He gestured and trailed off, not quite sure how to put it inoffensively, but she merely laughed heartily and guessed what he had been asking. She wasn't like the cheerful and almost bouncy parents; no, she was content like a slow-moving, happy river.

"He gets it from Mamoru."

"Mamoru?"

"His grandfather," she clarified and leaned back in her chair in the relative quiet of the kitchen. "And even then, Shizuka shows more emotion than my darling husband ever thought of doing. Didn't speak much either."

"That's--"

"Not possible, huh?" she finished for him when he abruptly stopped, having realized what he had just said. "Trust me, it is. But I knew he loved him, even if he only ever said it once."

"How did he die, if I can ask?"

She picked up a picture frame nearby on a small table, showing him a man of middle-age, but who looked remarkably like Doumeki himself. And somehow, he could see what she meant. The stern, expressionless visage seemed even more stoic than the archer was.

"A spirit killed him," she murmured, a tad sadly. "He was trying to seal it and it took all his strength to do so."

Watanuki's eyes slid away and suddenly, he fervently wished that she would never find out about his ability to see spirits. That might end up breaking the woman's heart. "I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been difficult for you."

"No more so than losing anyone close to you. I'm sure you can understand that." Watanuki's eyes shot up, wide, to look the woman in the face. Had Doumeki told his family about his parents? It didn't seem like something he would have done. "Don't look so surprised. I can see it in the way you carry yourself, and it doesn't take a whole lot of guessing with the added information that you live on your own." She smiled in a motherly fashion. "At least you used to."

Watanuki couldn't help but smile back. Maybe his stay here wouldn't be all bad.

This is Oro-chan's story that I helped her out with. Orochimaruhan and I posted on the xxxholic and the doumekiwatanuki livejournal communities. We also don't own xxxholic. 


	4. Chapter 4

It was midnight before Watanuki was completely unpacked and set up in his room, and by that time, all he wanted to do was sleep. But when he was alone and in bed, he found that his mind would not rest and fall into unconsciousness. The sounds in the house were different than that of his apartment.

Noises he had been accustomed to outside his apartment building, such as from an outdoor cat in the trash of the alleyway, or the sounds of the occasional car honking as it went by, the total silence of the whole apartment were missing. Now, he could hear Doumeki snoring faintly down the hall, not noticeable if you were asleep, and his faint shifting; the wind whistling outside the paper doors and an owl hooting somewhere out in the night in a nearby tree. And worst or best of all, he felt not a single spirit. He'd always felt some feeling leaking through the wards on his house, but not this time.

It drove him to complete distraction and it was several hours before he was asleep.

"My, Watanuki-kun, are you all right? You look so pale. Did you not sleep well?"

Watanuki managed a tired smile at Natsuko as she cooed over him. "Oh, I'm fine. Please don't worry about me." Before he'd even thought of it, he'd managed to smoothly move around her and begin to make their lunches and breakfast, as if he'd done it thousands of times before.

It was after a minute that he felt the gaze on him and turned around. There was a suspicious gleam in Natsuko's eyes and before he could process it in his sleep-deprived brain, she had pounced and was hugging him for all she was worth, then hovering around him, then talking a mile a minute. The only thing he could get the gist of was that she so completely adored that he could cook.

"Mother, he isn't going to get any cooking done if you don't give him some room." Shizuka came in, instantly going about making tea.

"It's just too cute that he can cook, no one in this family can except for your grandmother. You can barely make tea." She chastised in a loving way. Shizuka gave her a small, barely perceptible smile, but didn't otherwise seem fazed.

Watanuki silently thanked Yuuko, if only for the fact that when he cooked at her shop he had Maru, Moro, and the black pork bun bouncing around him nonstop, otherwise he would have fled from the cheerful family that slowly congregated to the kitchen as they all woke up.

Before Watanuki knew what was going on, Shizuka's family were all seated around the table drinking tea and chatting merrily. Every now and then Natsuko would get up and come to peer over his shoulder, but everyone didn't seem to mind that he had commandeered the kitchen. Rei had smiled at him in what could be called a mischievous way and sat down without more than a good morning.

He had to wonder just how Doumeki Shizuka survived in this family. They were all so active and he was, well, not. At least not in the way they were. Athletic was a better word for the archer, while active suited his family perfectly.

The breakfast was simple fish, rice and miso as he put the real work into making the lunch. Even so, there were compliments all around for his cooking, save for from Shizuka, causing his cheeks to heat.

By the time he was finished making the bento it was time to leave for school. Rei gave a simple good bye, Natsuko near hugged the life out of both of them, and Kaoru clapped him on the back almost hard enough to send him sprawling, thanking him for breakfast once again.

Shock was a good word for what he was going through.

"Oi."

Watanuki blinked and looked at Doumeki, well he was Doumeki outside of the house, then he realized what had been said. "My name is _not_ 'Oi'!" He rounded on the archer, glaring.

"You seem out of it." He pulled his fingers out of his ears, ignoring him as usual.

He was a bit taken back for a second, not expecting that. "I, well, just wasn't expecting your family to be like that," he answered honestly.

"You'll get used to them." Doumeki shrugged it off. "What kept you up?"

He felt his cheeks heat. "Nothing, I just wasn't tired, not that it's any of _your_ business!" Doumeki walked past him, unaffected by the yelling. "Hey, don't ignore me you jerk!"

It wasn't until he'd reached the school and they had parted to go to their classes when it occurred to him to wonder how Doumeki had known that he had been awake most of the night.

"That's so wonderful, Watanuki-kun! You and Doumeki-kun are such good friends that you must be so happy to be together!"

Now, Watanuki did indeed very much like Himawari, but her insistence that they were good friends was wearing on his nerves. And since they had a few moments and Doumeki was, for once, nowhere around, he decided to ask straight out.

"What makes you think that Doumeki and I are such good friends?" He was honestly curious, since all he ever did was yell at the archer. Where someone could get the idea that they were the best of friends baffled him.

"Eh?" She tilted her head and thought for a moment, hair shifting around her prettily. "Well, because you're always fighting."

The silence around them was complete as she smiled and Watanuki, for the first time in his life, thought she was a total ditz. He immediately rescinded the thought, but it didn't take away the fact that it had been there or the fact that it was the most idiotic answer he'd ever heard.

"Himawari-chan…I'm afraid I don't understand."

She smiled gently, as if she had expected that answer. "You didn't know, Watanuki-kun? There's a saying that the more you fight with someone, the closer you two are." When he still looked confused, she expanded. "Because you know someone so well that you clash and fight all the time says you're truly deep friends. That you have the liberty to say what you truly mean and not have to worry that you say the wrong things because you'll always be friends."

It had never occurred to him to think that way, even if it wasn't true. And it was then that he realized he never really knew anything about Doumeki at all. Doumeki always seemed to occasionally make a comment that made Watanuki wonder how well Doumeki knew him. Maybe, with living with him and all, he should try to find out?

He shook the idea away as completely improbable, impossible, and not worth it, but the suggestion remained in the back of his mind.

This is Oro-chan's story that I helped her out with. Orochimaruhan and I posted on the xxxholic and the doumekiwatanuki livejournal communities. We also don't own xxxholic. 


	5. Chapter 5

Doumeki Shizuka had noticed some interesting habits of Watanuki. His family never said anything about it, but they weren't the kind to take note of the small things like that.

It had only been a week since Watanuki had moved into his house, and even though he could tell the smaller boy was uncomfortable with the family situation, he was quickly relaxing. Watanuki no longer had any problem yelling at him at the top of his lungs. At least, as long as no one else was in the room with them.

The role of homemaker seemed to fit Watanuki perfectly; he did all sorts of household things, and often without being asked. He cooked all of their meals, made bento, cleaned anything that needed it, did the dishes after every meal, and the brief glances Doumeki got of his room revealed it being hospital clean. On top of this he was still working at Yuuko's for several hours out of the day.

The strange habits that he had picked up on, however, were just that. Strange. Watanuki wouldn't go into a room if the television or a radio was on. Just the opposite, in fact. He avoided the room like the plague. Or, even though he was sleeping just down the hall from the bespectacled boy, he had hung spirit wards in every corner of his room and on his doorframe and windows.

When he had inquired about it, Watanuki had told him to stop being a nosy jerk and avoided the topic. It was obviously something that hit a sore spot with the bespectacled boy.

Watanuki avoided talking about Yuuko's business when anyone else was around. Oh, he would talk about the chores he did around the shop, something weird Yuuko or the girls did, but he always found some way around mentioning anything that remotely involved spirits.

Things outside of their mutual home hadn't changed though. While inside Watanuki had no choice but to call everyone by their first name, always tacking on a polite san or sama in his grandmother's case to the end. Outside he still referred to him as 'Doumeki' or 'jerk'. His fawning over Himawari remained the same, and he continued to tell her stories of what went on in his life outside of school. Doumeki had been a little surprised the first time Watanuki paused, about to start a story about something that had happened with the Doumeki family that morning, and looked to him silently asking if it was ok. Watanuki did that whenever he was going to talk about something the family did from that point on.

For a week, things had been peaceful, and quiet. No jobs from Yuuko, no strange spirits randomly accosting Watanuki. Everything was a semblance of what most people would call 'normal'. He knew that it meant something was going to go very wrong, and soon.

He could feel it, much like how you could tell when someone was watching you. The eerie calm that had descended on them caused the little hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. He had never been paranoid, even after starting going on odd jobs for Watanuki's employer, so when he got a feeling like this it was usually accurate.

As if on cue, when Watanuki came home he set the groceries in the kitchen and went to find him.

"Yuuko has a job for us." Watanuki, as usual, didn't look happy about it. "She says to meet her in the park tonight at midnight, and for you to bring your bow and any strong spirit warding talismans you have."

"Okay."

"Okay? _Okay_! Is that all you have to say about this? You should know by just from that little information that she is probably trying to get us killed for something stupid again!" Watanuki exploded, and he hadn't even been trying to press his buttons yet. "She's never asked us to bring talismans before! Even _you_ should know that that's a bad sign. It couldn't be anymore clear if she had written it out for us!"

"What's a bad sign?" The voice of his grandmother caused Watanuki to turn around so fast that he should have given himself whiplash.

"Rei-sama!" The blood drained from Watanuki's face, making him even paler than normal. "Bad sign? Oh, it's nothing important, just something my crazy boss said is all."

His grandmother tilted her head and he could tell that Watanuki wasn't fooling her. He knew his grandmother very well. She was an extremely smart and observant woman and Watanuki's strange behavior could not have passed her notice. Nor the fact that Watanuki's room was filled with spirit wards even though he lived in a temple.

But she didn't say anything, as he knew she wouldn't. She had been married to his grandfather, after all, for almost fifty years. She merely nodded and moved on to small talk, but nothing was getting past her.

In truth, he often felt the only person he could talk to was his grandmother. He hadn't told her about Watanuki's powers or what he was often doing with Watanuki at Yuuko's request, but when it came to anything out of the ordinary or anything he wanted to talk about, he would always go to her. He loved his parents, but they'd just fawn over and tried to help. He didn't want help with anything; he just wanted someone to listen and give advice, then stop at that point. He liked to do things on his own.

They walked to the park in near silence, Watanuki pale faced and fearing the worst, Doumeki calm and composed. The contrast between the two of them would have been almost comical if it weren't for the fact that they really could be going to meet some gruesome fate.

They reached the park at midnight exactly, Watanuki nervously casting about for Yuuko. It didn't take long to spot her. She strode up to them composed and serious, something of a rare thing for the woman, and draped over her arm was a piece of cloth.

"There is an abandoned Shinto shrine a few blocks east of here, I need you two to go there and collect something for me. This is a very dangerous item and you will need to be careful not to let it touch you." As usual, the specifics were conveniently left out, and in the brief pause she fiddled with the talisman hanging around Watanuki's neck. "You need to recover this before sunrise. You need to be back home before sunrise, and not a minute later."

She let the talisman drop back against Watanuki's chest, and walked away, after a few steps she turned to look over her shoulder. "Be careful."

This is Oro-chan's story that I helped her out with. Orochimaruhan and I posted on the xxxholic and the doumekiwatanuki livejournal communities. We also don't own xxxholic. 


	6. Chapter 6

Watanuki shivered, but not with cold. He was literally terrified about what was to come. He pacified some of his fear by thinking that when Yuuko fiddled with his talisman that she might have cast a spell to increase it's effects, but he knew his boss, and that was unlikely. Doumeki appeared as calm as always and he wanted to strangle him. Did he ever look any different?!

At first, as they topped the steps to the old shrine, he didn't see anything to get upset about. There was just a man sitting on a small bench nearby, dressed in a dark brown trench coat and black hat like you saw in those old, black and white American movies. The only reason that Watanuki was suddenly ready run in the other direction was the nastily sharp long sword he held listlessly in one hand. The moonlight glinted on the blade like some evil eye.

The sounds of their footsteps drew the attention of the man and he turned, face still covered in shadows. Laughter billowed out from the darkness where his mouth should be, and it was the kind of laughter that set your teeth on edge. It was sharp and dangerous, with a guttural tone to it, as if there was something wrong with the throat that it echoed from.

His movements were awkward as he stood and stumbled over in their direction, like a drunkard. Only drunks didn't generally have swords with them. It was as he approached that Watanuki felt a tightening of his lungs and he began to cough. There was no mistaking that stench, that feeling, or that look. The closer he got, the thicker the black cloud of sludge that he was so familiar with increased.

"Sir?" he questioned as politely as he could behind his hand as he coughed.

The man's head lifted and he gasped when moonlight filtered down and illuminated his face. It was horrific and it was clear that the man was already dead. Pieces of flesh were missing and white bone could be seen on his left cheek. As he watched, decayed flakes of skin fell off and landed on the ground.

"Oh my god…" Watanuki muttered, shocked, and his feet stumbled backward a little.

Doumeki seemed as still as a statue and the bespectacled boy had no way of knowing what he was thinking. In fact, he didn't _care_ what his archrival was thinking. He just wanted to run, as far away as possible from the corpse.

If Doumeki hadn't jumped back right then, faster than he should have been able to with his bulkier body and pulling a choking Watanuki with him, he would have been split in two as the sword arced through the air with a faint whizzing sound. That grotesque, half missing mouth smiled.

"My god! How can he do that?! He's using the sword like…like…"

"An expert," Doumeki supplied as they jumped to the side, barely, dodging the lightning fast strike. The sword was like a silver blur through the air, first cutting down and from the right, then arcing perfectly parallel to the ground, and then from another new angle; the corpse was switching from techniques as if it were the most natural and easy thing in the world.

How could a week old corpse manage to move so fast and use the sword so well? Even in Japan, only fanatic sword collectors knew all the fancy moves and quick reflexes and the weight of the blade that well.

The black smoke sludge was getting worse and so was his coughing. Watanuki danced over the ground, almost in sync with Doumeki, as he dodged, but he was being slowed. His eyes watered every time the corpse got closer. He was wracked with such uncontrollable coughs that his lungs burned with the need for air, and the smell alone was enough to want to make him vomit.

And then he didn't move quite fast enough.

Doumeki was not a swordsman by any means; his skill was with the bow, and that was an entirely different sort of expertise. He was, however, an athlete. He was used to watching and waiting too, skills he had learned from years of archery practice and chasing after Watanuki on other dangerous jobs.

When the first strike of the sword came, he saw it clearly, taking the necessary step backwards to avoid the razor sharp steel. He pulled Watanuki with him; he knew the bespectacled boy wouldn't see the first strike, as he was busy just trying to breath. It wasn't surprising when Watanuki did start moving on his own, despite the effect the spirit was having on him. He had had to spend most of his life running from and dodging spirits anyway.

He knew he needed to put some distance between them and the sword wielding corpse for him to effectively wield his bow, but with the speed of the corpse it would be all but impossible unless he could find himself an opening, and soon.

He could see that Watanuki was slowing, his breathing becoming increasingly labored and his eyes were watering. The smell must have been unbearable. Just from the normal scent of rotting flesh he was feeling sick. It wasn't easy dodging and keeping an eye on the smaller boy, but if he didn't, who would? Watanuki got himself into more trouble than any ten other people, and right now screamed of trouble; not just the fact that there was a sword wielding corpse, but from the simple fact that Watanuki was getting clumsy with the added burden of his spiritual powers.

To confirm his thoughts an extra violent coughing fit struck the smaller boy, and slowing him just a fraction of a second, the sword caught his chest. The fabric of the shirt cut apart perfectly, as did the pale skin beneath it, starting from a simple red line then blood started flowing down the partially exposed chest and soaking the once white t-shirt.

Watanuki's sapphire eyes went wide behind his glasses, shock overtaking his face. He didn't cry out. Doumeki doubted he had the breath in him to cry out. Then, unexpectedly, those blue eyes rolled back into his skull and he collapsed.

Mentally cursing, Doumeki locked his full attention on the corpse, but it didn't seem interested in the fallen boy any more, as if he were already dead. A sadistic sort of grin spread across the half of the rotting flesh that remained on the jaw of the corpse, revealing missing teeth and a tongue-less black mouth.

Full concentration now on his opponent, he took several leaps in the backwards direction, as the reanimated, decaying, body running with literally inhuman speed to keep on him. The attack was relentless, but what did a dead man know of endurance or stamina, or need of them?

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted an old fallen board of considerable size. The place had been abandoned for long enough that it was falling apart. The fact that it hadn't been torn down for rezoning was a miracle. He shifted his dodging to take him in the direction of the board, lifting it slightly with his toe and kicking it at his opponents face.

In an almost instant reaction, the sword cut through the board, the pieces falling harmlessly to the side. It was only a second's delay, but that was all he needed. He drew his bow, naturally taking aim, and loosed.

Time seemed to slow, and he could easily follow the path of the arrow he couldn't see through the air, timing its strike. As he imagined an arrow hitting the corpse, it began to melt, centering at the spot he had imagined the arrow hitting. The hand holding the sword was the last to go, melting away into nothing and leaving only the perfect gleaming metal in it's wake.

He remembered the warning Yuuko had given about not touching the sword, and let it lie where it was, running around it to the fallen Watanuki.

Watanuki was right where he had left him only moments before. For only seconds having passed, there was a lot of blood. The shirt was already ruined, and the blood flow needed to be stopped, so he grabbed the hem and carefully began to remove it to be made into makeshift bandages. His knuckles brushed against the skin of the pale boy. It was frozen.

No one should be that cold, on such a warm night, nor should they be sweating. This was probably why they had been told not to touch the sword. Not having have time to waste on contemplating the drop in body temperature or Yuuko's warnings, he ripped the shirt apart and began to wrap it in strips around the small and frail seeming chest.

"Ah, I see you've already begun to handle things." A dark melodious voice, one that could only belong to a very specific person, sounded behind him.

"What's wrong with him?" He tied off the last knot in the fabric, laying Watanuki gently on his back, before turning to face the Dimensional Witch.

"The sword has a sort of spiritual poison on it. It acts quickly, but the more serious effects are prolonged until dawn. If it isn't purified out of him by then, his soul will be consumed and he will be nothing more than an empty shell." She seemed too calm about the situation as she bent over the abandoned sword, the cloth she had been carrying earlier in hand. "You stopped the bleeding, which is also important, but now you need to do something more." Carefully she picked up the sword, never letting it touch her skin, and wrapped it in the nondescript white cloth.

"What do I do then?" Sometimes, as much as Yuuko told anyone, you had to ask questions to get the information that you needed.

She turned to face him then, the wrapped sword resting in the crook of one arm like a scepter. "Take him home, what happens to him from here is in your hands."

Doumeki scooped the pale boy into his arms and immediately his breathing began to even out, but it didn't seem to gain any strength to it. His aura was at least good for one thing beyond exorcising spirits.

This is Oro-chan's story that I helped her out with. Orochimaruhan and I posted on the xxxholic and the doumekiwatanuki livejournal communities. We also don't own xxxholic.


	7. Chapter 7

It took him too much time to get home, Shizuka was sure. The makeshift bandages he had wrapped Watanuki in could only do so much, and they weren't what he would call clean. Not when Watanuki had been laying in the dirt in that shirt.

The wound would heal though; it wasn't too deep, and the blood loss wasn't great. What the problem was, was the effects the sword was causing. He had to purify Watanuki, but he didn't know how. Yuuko was, as always, a little vague on the details.

He was the only surviving exorcist in his family since the passing of his grandfather. No one else had inherited it, the ability completely skipping over his father. His grandmother, though she had been married to his grandfather, also had no spiritual powers to speak of. She was, on the other hand, a skilled herbalist.

He kicked off his shoes at the front door, not making any efforts to be quiet while his family slept. Taking time making those efforts would be wasting time between now and sunrise. He found it odd that many fairy tale stories had something to do with the rising or falling of the sun. Now he knew there was some truth to such things.

Shizuka decided the best place to take Watanuki would be Watanuki's room. The spirit wards there would help to purify some of the poison, and it would be the most comfortable place for Watanuki to wake up. Watanuki _would_ be waking up.

When he entered the room, the different spirit wards let off a spark and went dull, the pieces of jade in several of them turning a tainted looking blackish brown. Each of them was now useless; he had noticed, while carrying Watanuki, that the talisman he had been wearing around his neck before was tarnished and rusted.

He placed the unconscious and too pale boy gently down on his futon, frowning at how sickly and frail he looked. Watanuki had always been thin and pale, but this was a step beyond unhealthy looking. Watanuki reminded Shizuka of nothing more than a corpse, though, admittedly not the same as the one he had fought earlier that night. He couldn't help but wonder if Watanuki would end up being an animated, soulless killer if he didn't get rid of the poison before time was out.

"I brought the first aid kit." Shizuka's turned to find his grandmother standing behind him in the doorway, holding said first aid kit, and her brow wrinkled with worry. "What else do you need for him?"

His grandmother had always been one of the most perceptive people he had ever known. She always seemed to have answers to the questions you were too afraid to ask her, and gave them out before you knew she had any idea something was off. She also seemed to pick up on secrets that you thought were hidden so deep even you would one day forget them. Which is why her presence now didn't surprise him. She had probably known the second they had left the house earlier.

"I need purification talismans, and any books or spells you can find on the subject," he stated evenly, taking the first aid kit. He set it aside for the moment. First he needed to get some hot water and a rag, so that once the bandages had been removed he could properly wash the wound before attempting to dress it.

When he came back, his grandmother was already there, with several books in hand and already ruined talismans that she was frowning at. Some of them were ofuda his grandfather had written, old and worn, but supposed to still be good. Those looked as if they were burning away around the edges.

Setting to work cutting off the very ruined shirt wrapped around the sword wound. The blood had begun to clot, drying the once white shirt into place. When he peeled if off flakes of a dark reddish color came loose and the wound began bleeding again in places.

The cut looked angry and red, the flesh around it heated while the rest of Watanuki was ice cold. Shizuka washed it carefully, not being able to help when it re opened a little. By the time he was done, the water he had collected was stained and the rag probably ruined. Bandaging Watanuki was easier with his grandmother's help, and before long, they sat next to the futon watching the afflicted boy in silence.

"What needs to be done for him? A cut that shallow shouldn't be causing symptoms like this, or for the talismans to react as they have," she asked after a while, her soft voice piercing through the silence of the small room.

Doumeki looked up from the book he was thumbing through. "The poison needs to be purified out of him." He was on his second book out of the stack, and still wasn't having any luck.

"It must be a strong poison," Rei said gravely, concern evident on her face. Shizuka knew that she already considered Watanuki a part of their family, even for the short time he had been there, and with the way things were, he could understand why. Even his parents had taken an instant liking to the bespectacled boy, adopting him in without a seconds thought. They were kind people, but he knew it was more than just that that had formed the bond between them and Watanuki. As Yuuko would call it, hitsuzen.

Shizuka nodded, looking back down at the book. Not much time remained until sunrise. "It will steal his soul in the end." His grandmother would never ask what had happened, that's part of what made it easier for him to talk to her, but he felt that he should tell her. "We were asked to recover an item by Yuuko-san at an abandoned shrine. When we got there, it was in the possession of a rotting corpse. We didn't know it was a corpse that held the katana we were after, or even that it was a katana, until Watanuki began to choke on the things aura. It attacked us, and Watanuki was overwhelmed and got cut. Yuuko-san showed up after I had killed the thing, collected the sword and told me that he needs to be purified."

He didn't elaborate further than that; he knew he wouldn't have to. She would understand, and if she didn't, he knew she would at least accept it.

"I see. The poor thing." She picked up one of the books he hadn't been through and began to leaf through it. "Well, we will just have to figure this out then." She had seen too much in her lifetime to be fazed by anything.

Doumeki had no idea how long they sat there looking through the stack of books; too long perhaps. It was very near sunrise now, and still nothing had been found.

His grandmother had left moments ago to go make some tea, while he still sat there, looking for an answer. An answer that didn't seem to want to be found.

Watanuki's condition had, expectedly, worsened. If he didn't look close enough, Shizuka knew he would miss the faint rise and fall of Watanuki's chest. Checking his pulse was disheartening. It was barely there, almost too weak to feel. It was far too weak in general. He didn't let his grandmother check Watanuki's pulse, it would make her worry more than she had too, and he didn't want her to know just how bad things were right now. Though he did suspect that she knew anyway.

Watanuki, even though he was asleep now, looked as if he hadn't slept in weeks. There were dark circles around his eyes and his skin seemed almost transparent, paler than even the sheets on his bed. Shizuka couldn't think of a time where the boy had come this close to death in the years they had known each other; there had been many close calls, no questions there, but nothing like this. For the first time in all that time, Shizuka thought he might lose the loud mouth.

Slowly, he reached up and brushed a few strands of black hair off of Watanuki's forehead. It seemed as if he weren't careful enough, Watanuki would break. It reminded him of the time the idiot had been going to meet the woman's ghost in the park, only much worse. The memory made something inside of him twinge; Watanuki was his friend, his closest friend even considering the shouting and denial, and he had worked a long time to make sure he wouldn't lose him. Now it seemed, that he would.

Shizuka was tired, both physically and mentally exhausted from this night, but Yuuko's jobs always took their toll. "What can I do?" He asked the immobile form before him, not expecting an answer. He wasn't sure what he meant by that either, there were too many possibilities.

He picked up the last book, and probably the last chance to save Watanuki. Scanning each page for what he was looking for wasn't easy, he had to go quickly, but if he rushed he could miss something important. As it was, the pages were yielding nothing that could help.

Near the end of the book, just pages before the back cover, there was a folded scrap of paper. Knowing better than to overlook it, he pulled it out and unfolded it. It was what he needed. _Hitsuzen_ he could almost hear Yuuko say, as he looked over the simple instructions.

It seemed too easy, far too easy considering the circumstances. All his searching, for an answer so easy he should have thought of it in the first place. That was often how things like this worked, but that didn't mean it wasn't a little frustrating.

The eye they shared already covered half of what was needed. That was the most complicated bit. He wouldn't be able to handle the rest without that fact, but since it was already out of the way it seemed as if there would be nothing to worry about.

Opening the first aid kit that was sitting only a few feet away, for when they would have to change the bandaging later, he pulled out the small scissors that were kept for cutting bandaging. Opening them up, he tested the edge. They were sharp enough. Slitting open one of his fingers, he put the bleeding appendage to Watanuki's lips, making sure the blood got into the dying boy's mouth.

That was it, that was all he had to do, or so the paper told him. Now it was just a matter of waiting. It did make sense really, if he had the power to expel spirits by simply being present, his blood alone should be a powerful talisman.

Wrapping a band-aid around his finger, he put the scissors back into the kit, and grabbed hold of Watanuki's wrists, un-bandaged fingers pressed softly to the pulse point. It didn't seem to be any different, but for all he knew, these things took time.

When his grandmother came back in with the tea, she didn't ask about the band-aid, or why he was monitoring Watanuki's pulse as he was. She just set the tray down, and offered him a cup. Only a few more minutes and they would know for sure.

Shizuka and his grandmother watched out the open curtains of the window as the horizon lightened. The sky going from inky black, to grey, to shades of pale pinks and light blues as the sun made it's first appearance.

Shizuka now had his eyes locked on Watanuki, waiting for a sign either way. Now would be the deciding point. For a moment he felt Watanuki's heart stop, the pulse nonexistent, and he was sure his heart stopped too, but after what seemed forever the pulse came back, stronger and regular. His heart began beating again too, doing double time for the beats it had missed.

Releasing a breath he didn't know he held, he laid Watanuki's arm back down on the futon, picking up his tea and taking a long drink.

"I guess he'll be alright then," his grandmother said, gathering her things and standing once more. "I'm going to go to bed now; try and get some sleep soon." She left the room again, shutting the door behind her.

Shizuka was now left to think, about what had almost happened tonight, and other things. His heart was racing and he wasn't sure why. Watanuki had come close to death too many times before, but he had never felt the effect of it like this. For a moment, just a moment, he had thought he had lost the loud-mouthed boy. The restriction he had felt in his chest at that moment he could only think to name as panic, half of it anyway.

This is Oro-chan's story that I helped her out with. Orochimaruhan and I posted on the xxxholic and the doumekiwatanuki livejournal communities. We also don't own xxxholic. 


	8. Chapter 8

When Watanuki woke, everything was hazy. His whole body hurt, centering at his chest, and his limbs felt three times as heavy as they should have been. He groaned and tried swallowing, but his throat was so dry that it was almost impossible. There was no point in keeping his eyes open that he let them fall shut and was lost to insensibility once more.

And dreams hounded him endlessly.

The next time, things weren't so bad and he could make out some shapes. It took a moment to realize why things remained slightly blurry was because he didn't have his glasses on. He shifted and a hand pressed down on his shoulder to keep him still. He turned his head and it took several minutes before he could pick out the fact that it was Doumeki's mother sitting next to him. And even in his state, he could tell she was worried.

"Stay still…you've been sleeping for two days and you're probably really weak."

He wanted to ask what happened, but his throat was even worse that he couldn't speak. As if interpreting his expression correctly, Natsuko frowned in worry and ran a hand over his forehead. "We tried to give you something to drink, but you always coughed it up. You couldn't keep anything down. But we can try again now."

Watanuki couldn't go back to sleep. His body was exhausted, but there was only so much rest the mind could take. His was almost overactive by this time and it was practically bouncing in his skull. And faster than he'd like, his recollections were pieced together and he knew what happened. He'd been cut by that sword and passed out. It must have been a pretty bad injury if he'd slept for two days.

The door slid open and suddenly the room was filled. Shizuka carried a tray with him and behind him, his parents gathered and surrounded his bed. But it was the calming presence of Rei, the grandmother who he had grown extremely fond of, that he yearned for. He'd noticed that each gave of a presence that he responded to: Natsuko, a cheerful homebody you could ask for any help from; Kaoru, someone you went to if you wanted to know what to do and you wanted action; Rei, calm and serene, someone you went to if you wanted to be heard; and Shizuka, protection and safety when you were feeling scared.

"You feeling a little better, my boy?"

The bespectacled boy's eyes turned to that deep, worried baritone, but he could only look at him helplessly. His breath was hot and stale and he tried not to breathe anywhere near them. It was something of a surprise as Shizuka almost manhandled his way near the bed, holding a cup near Watanuki's lips with his characteristically expressionless way.

"Drink slowly."

He had no energy argue and did as he was told. His stomach rolled at the liquid and for a moment, he thought he was going to vomit. Stubbornly, he closed his throat and forced it to stay down.

"I'm fine," he rasped after a minute.

"Good." There was a pause and he finally saw Kaoru angry. It was not a pleasant sight and in fact, it was terrifying, especially from Watanuki's bed-ridden view. He wanted to flinch away, but couldn't move. "Now you can _explain_ to me what the _hell_ you two thought you were _doing_ in the middle of the middle of the _damn_ night!"

Watanuki wanted to curl up in a small ball at the muted roar of the older man and even the hand on his arm from his wife didn't calm him. It was obvious that while the demand was laced with cursing, it was nowhere near what he would have _liked_ to say.

To his surprise, it was Shizuka that came to his rescue. He was placing himself between his father's anger and Watanuki. The room was small, so he didn't have to move, but his set expression and words, while nothing overtly threatening, held a faintly dangerous edge that the bespectacled boy had never heard.

"I'll explain later, father. Watanuki just woke up, so leave him be for now."

"Leave him be? How can I just--"

Rei apparently decided enough was enough, since it didn't appear as if Kaoru was going to back down, and intervened. "Kaoru, Shizuka is right. The boy hasn't even begun to recover from this ordeal. Questions can wait until they are _both_ ready to answer them."

Kaoru opened his mouth to say something else, but closed it again from a stern look from his wife and mother made him think twice. "Fine, I'll ask later." With that, he left the room, still radiating his anger. He knew that the man was only angry because of what happened and how badly he had been hurt, more than what he had done, but that didn't help matters all that much.

The four of them sat there in silence for a few minutes, Natsuko unconsciously running her fingers through Watanuki's hair in a comforting manner. It reminded him of how his mother would do the same when he was little. After a while she let out a sigh and stood. "I'll go talk to him." She smiled down at Watanuki. "Don't misunderstand, he isn't mad at you, he's just worried."

She followed after her husband; Rei looked from one boy to the other then left the room as well without a word.

Watanuki stared at the wall on the other side of the room from where Shizuka was sitting. He had forgotten what it was like when you could hurt people by getting yourself hurt. It had been so long that it hadn't even crossed his mind that they would even care if he never came home in the morning. What was worst was that he had been putting Shizuka in this position for years. What had his family thought when he came home with bruises, odd injuries, or that first time when he had had his arm in a sling? Suddenly the weight of just what he had been putting these people through unknowingly seemed to crush down on him.

"I'm sorry." The words were only forced out because his throat was so dry. He had no problem saying them to Shizuka; he should have said them long before now.

"You don't have to be." The way it was said, it was like the archer had no question of what Watanuki was apologizing for.

Watanuki turned his head to look at Shizuka. Golden eyes were staring at him intently, that face as stoic as ever. "But this is my fault, all of it has been my fault."

Shizuka shook his head in response. "You can't take blame for me choosing to help you, and you usually come out worse than I do, with a few exceptions." Watanuki couldn't deny the truth in the latter half of that. He had nearly died more times than he could count. It almost didn't scare him anymore.

"What about them? Every time I ask you for help, look what it does to them, and I didn't even notice." The words came out with more bitterness than he had meant to put into them, but it was less than he felt towards himself.

"It's my choice. I know what I'm doing when I agree to help you." Shizuka stood to leave, but paused at the door, one hand resting on the frame. "Your cooking is worth it anyway."

And as simply as that, Watanuki was left alone with his thoughts. It took a minute for him to realize that Shizuka had complimented his cooking, directly. A small smile came to his lips, but he still had to figure out what he was going to tell the Doumeki family. A family he had grown too attached to in the short time he had been here. There was a lot he had forgotten about in his years living alone. Now he had to learn it the hard way all over again.

It took him a few days to recover his strength, and in those few days he had learned that take out was a better option than the cooking of anyone else in that house, and he hated take out.

Shizuka would bring him his homework, and spend the afternoon helping him with it, filling in the blanks of the information he had missed when he missed the lesson at school.

He received regular visits from Rei and Natsuko at first, then after a while Kaoru as well. He never apologized for what he said before, but he didn't bring it up again. Mostly the two of them sat in silence, neither knowing quite what they wanted to say to the other.

In all, it was a new experience for Watanuki. Or, more accurately, a long forgotten experience that took some getting used to. It was when Shizuka was sitting by his bedside again that he brought up the subject.

"Shizuka."

The archer was busying erasing and fixing one of his wrong answers he'd guessed on when he'd missed the lesson and looked up in surprise when he heard his first name fall from the paler, smaller boy's lips. It was only a reflex action, really. Inside the house, he was Shizuka. Outside, he was Doumeki.

"I need to tell your parents what happened and why."

At first, Shizuka didn't say anything and merely seemed to stare at his face, as if weighing the determination he saw there. When the silence stretched and he was satisfied, he nodded. "In here?"

"No. In another room."

"Can you make it to the living room on your own?"

"Of course I can," he snapped and threw off his sheets.

In the end, he had had to be supported around his waist by Shizuka's arm before he'd even made his way halfway there. Once he was settled, the archer disappeared for a few moments to collect his missing family members. Watanuki took the opportunity to take a few deep breaths, knowing that he was finally going to put at ease the questions that had plagued the family for too long now.

His eyes latched onto Rei as she entered first, followed by Shizuka's parents. He was most afraid of what she would think or do. Her beloved husband had died because of spirits. What would she think to know that he, her grandson's…"friend", could see the very thing that caused her partner's death?

He licked his lips, trying to figure out the best way to say it. When he saw Kaoru's eyes, the brightest of the lot of them, the coiled anticipation within that he'd been waiting for, his resolve wilted. As if sensing that, Shizuka merely sat down next to him for silent support. He didn't notice Rei's keen glance as she took in the act.

"First off, I see spirits. I've been able to my whole life." He paused and Natsuko immediately laid a hand on her husband's arm to forestall whatever he had been about to say.

Watanuki's eyes shifted to stare straight at Rei, but the older woman didn't even flinch under his gaze. Strangely enough, her face was as stoic but calm as Shizuka's always was. He bit the inside of his lip, wishing he knew what was going on in her head.

"It's a long story, but the short of it is that I see spirits. I work for Yuuko-san so she'll grant my wish to not see them and not have spirits attracted to me. When I'm around Shizuka, I can't see them, which is why Yuuko always puts us together. Sometimes she sends us out on jobs to take care of spiritual stuff and that night was one of them. She warned us to bring our strongest talismans and that it would be very dangerous, so it wasn't like we were going in blind."

"Just who the hell does that woman think she is, to order you to go out in dangerous situations like that?!"

"I'm also called the Dimensional Witch, among other things."

Kaoru's roar of anger was immediately followed by a voice that Watanuki knew well and he was not surprised to find Yuuko, dressed to the teeth in finery and out to impress, standing in the doorway with Mokona on her shoulder.

_Oh great…this is gonna go over **real** well._ Watanuki didn't know what to do, but had no doubts that Yuuko's arrival was anything but coincidence. He sighed, bracing himself for whatever was to come. "Everyone, this is Yuuko."

Yuuko smiled in that mysterious way she had, sweeping into the room as if she owned it. She at least had the politeness to look towards Rei for approval before sitting down. The way she lounged in the chair was reminiscent of a queen in her throne, the air around her all seriousness.

Natsuko was looking from face to face, worry evident on her own. Abruptly she stood. "I'll go make some tea." She hurried to the kitchen, and Watanuki felt that he was burdening these people yet again. Once you met Yuuko, your life was never the same again.

"What are you doing here?" Kaoru asked, not rudely, but with a no nonsense sort of tone. It was expected when a strange woman showed up in your living room, more so when said woman had been sending your son on life threatening jobs for some time.

"I came to check up on Watanuki. It seems that my timing was better than anticipated though. I can't let him defend himself in this matter alone." Yuuko's tone was too casual for the situation, or it felt to casual to Watanuki, but it was a tone she loved to use. "After all, he wouldn't, couldn't, understand all the reasons behind the things I do. I don't expect him to accurately depict what's been going on either."

"Well, then please tell us accurately for him." Rei's voice was even, and effectively cut off whatever her son had been about to say. It was impossible to read what she was thinking by either her face or tone of voice. So much that she put Shizuka to shame.

"Of course, I was getting right to that." Yuuko inclined her head in a respectful manner. "I was only going to suggest we wait for Natsuko san, so that none of you would have to explain things to her when she came back." Watanuki blinked. He had never said anything to Yuuko about Shizuka's family, and Shizuka never spoke of them, so how did she know his mother's name?

As if on cue, Natsuko came back from the kitchen, tray in hand. She handed everyone a glass before seating herself next to her husband once more. A bit of her anxiousness was gone now.

Yuuko took a sip of her tea, smiling over the rim at Natsuko before speaking. "Several years ago, Watanuki entered my shop with a wish. His wish was to no longer see spirits; for his entire life they have been attracted to his blood, and if he isn't careful they could kill him. The purpose of my shop is to grant wishes, but all wishes have a price. So in order to pay for his wish, he has been working for me since." She paused, taking another sip of her tea. "Hitsuzen controls everything, it's as simple as that. Hitsuzen brought him to my shop, and it's what brought him and Shizuka kun to be friends. Shizuka kun's becoming Watanuki's friend was not coincidence. There is no such thing as coincidence. Nor is it coincidence that Shizuka kun has the power to exorcise the spirits that accost Watanuki. It's safe to say Watanuki would be dead dozens of times over if not simply for Shizuka's presence."

Kaoru glared at Yuuko, hands balled into fists. "That still doesn't explain why you are sending two children out where they could get killed." He wasn't yelling, but the strain of not doing so was evident in his voice.

"No, it doesn't." Yuuko told him. She was taking her time with this, like she was testing them. "Everyone has a wish they hold in their heart. Not everyone knows their wish when they come into my shop, and often ask for something else entirely, but I always grant their true wish. Watanuki would be working for me for longer than he would like, in a way he already has been, if I were to simply have him do house work. So to make things go more quickly I have him do side jobs. Shizuka kun accompanies him on these side jobs, not because I ask him to, but because he wants to. I could never make him go. He has his own wish, and while he doesn't need my shop to grant it, it doesn't mean I can't offer a little help if it benefits me."

"They could have died on this little side job of yours! How can you treat it so casually?" This time Kaoru did yell, his patience with the Dimensional Witch run out. "Don't you care for their lives at all, or does it not matter as long as you gain from it?"

The look Yuuko gave the man made Watanuki's toes curl. It wasn't what he would call a glare, but he couldn't think of another name for it. "Do not misunderstand me. I would never send either of them on a mission that would cost them their lives. If that was my intent neither would be sitting here now and I wouldn't be explaining anything to you." Her demeanor changed back to relaxed and she returned her attention to her tea for a moment before setting it down. "That's all I have to tell you on the situation. If you want the specifics of what those two did that night, I suggest you ask them." She was exiting the room before anyone had time to respond, pausing just long enough to level a look at Watanuki. "I expect to see you back at work on Monday."

An uncomfortable silence descended on the room. Watanuki found he wasn't able to look up from the patch of carpet between his feet. Yuuko's explanation had been shorter than the one he had planned, but said much more. The way she put things made it seem as if they were the only option, and comparing it to what he had been going to say, his explanation seemed full of holes.

"Well, this explains a few things and makes it simple."

"Eh?" The bespectacled boy looked up at Rei and found his hands quivering in his lap. He didn't have time to notice the look Shizuka cast him, nor the almost frantic but whispered discussion between the two parents.

"I thought there was something strange. After all, even in a house on the temple grounds, you still decorated your room with wards and why you chose to have your room in the same wing of the house as Shizuka's."

"But I didn't--"

"I'm sure you didn't choose it consciously, dear, but if you had really not liked where your room was placed, you could have come to any of us and asked to be moved, couldn't you have?"

He had to admit that was true. They would have spent all the effort necessary to giving him another room if he had truly disliked the one he was staying in. Yet he had never felt compelled to. The room had been nice and airy and he hadn't wanted to put anyone to any more trouble than they already were going through for him.

"Shizuka, what wish of yours--"

"The question now is," Shizuka's grandmother interrupted almost hastily, overriding Kaoru's almost demanding question, "what are you going to do?"

This is Oro-chan's story that I helped her out with. Orochimaruhan and I posted on the xxxholic and the doumekiwatanuki livejournal communities. We also don't own xxxholic. 


	9. Chapter 9

It didn't take long before Watanuki was able to return to school, and everything seemed to return to normal. He didn't know what to think about the Doumeki family just dismissing his part in all of this out of hand once Yuuko had made her visit. When he asked her about it she replied with hitsuzen. Then again, it was her answer to everything.

He was waiting to know what would be asked of him for getting his life saved again. He was already making them both lunches everyday, and cleaning up around the house just by virtue of living together, so he didn't know what would be the demand. But as of yet, it hadn't come.

Watanuki had been left to wonder about what Yuuko said, as he recovered. She had said that the wish asked for wasn't necessarily the wish she was granting, and that Doumeki had a wish too. Doumeki had a wish, but couldn't see the shop, didn't _need_ the shop according to Yuuko. He didn't understand that, and knew asking either of them would get him nowhere. And the way she had been talking about the wish in people's hearts seemed like she was talking specifically about him, but again, he couldn't ask about it.

That wasn't all that was left for him to chew over; so much of what Yuuko said left him with a dozen questions on things he thought he had figured out while everyone else seemed satisfied with the half answers she had given.

Today was his first day back at school. A good portion of his breaks would be dedicated to turning in all his homework from the days he had missed. It was tiring, not just in the sense that he didn't want to run from class to class during his short breaks, but the healing wound in his chest pulled and he still felt weak from whatever that poison had done to him. A few people, some he wasn't even sure he knew, commented that he was looking paler than usual but that it was good to see him back at school. He had blinked confusedly and thanked them before continuing on his way.

"Watanuki kun!" He would know that cheerful voice anywhere. He put a big smile on his face and turned to greet the ever-enthusiastic Himawari.

"Himawari chan. How are you?"

She stopped in front of him, practically bouncing in place. "I'm fine, how are you? You've been out for so long! I was really beginning to worry, and Doumeki kun was real quiet too." Watanuki, not for the first time, wondered what he saw in Himawari, but quickly stomped the thought out. She just saw the most in all people, including Doumeki.

"He's always quiet Himawari chan," he reminded her. "And there is nothing to worry about, I was just sick for a little while. I'm better now." Internally he processed the rest of what Himawari had said, and then it hit. He had left Doumeki and Himawari alone for all that time. _Alone_, lunch, after school, everyday. It didn't seem that anything had changed between the two, but how was he to tell after five seconds of conversation? For all he knew, they could be _dating!_ The idea struck him as completely wrong on all counts.

"No, but not like this," she commented, but when he pressed her for more details, all she could do was shrug and say that he was just really quiet, more than usual. It left him a puzzle to try to piece together, along with trying to figure out what Doumeki's wish might actually be. He didn't really care, he told himself. It was just out of idle curiosity.

Lunch was really his only break in the day, in all the running from teacher to teacher, and project to project. Himawari wasn't there yet and Doumeki seemed to take the opportunity to reach over and jerk his summer uniform shirt up to inspect the bandage on his chest, despite the screeching from the boy in question.

"It doesn't look good. Take it easy or you'll only make it worse," the archer told him, letting go of the shirt and digging into the bento he had been given.

"_Don't tell me what to do!_" was the automatic and vehement response.

"You've only just recovered. If you want to be bedridden again, then do something stupid."

Folding his arms over his chest, directly over the bandage, he huffed indignantly. "I'm not going to do something stupid. I know how to take care of myself."

Doumeki glanced at him. Really it was nothing more than just a simple glance, but he knew what lay behind it.

"Don't you even think like that, you big jerk." He winced at the pain that shot through his chest as he yelled, and made a mental note to keep his arm waving in check. "I _do_ know how to take care of myself, believe it or not!"

"Of course you do. Be sure to remind Yuuko you're injured when you go to work today." Doumeki ignored Watanuki again, pulling his fingers out of his ears and going back to his bento.

"Hello Watanuki kun, Doumeki kun!" Himawari interrupted before the one-sided shouting match could continue. "Sorry I'm late, I had to take care of something for one of my classes."

"No, don't worry about it Himawari chan, we didn't mind waiting." Watanuki switched gears almost instantly, smiling at the pigtailed girl, before shooting another glare at Doumeki.

He basically ignored Doumeki for the rest of lunch, nothing out of the ordinary, but the once or twice he did look over at the archer he seemed to have an odd look in his eye that Watanuki just couldn't put a name to.

"Watanuki's back!" Moro and Maru chimed together as he entered the shop, Mokona joining in the two's enthusiasm by jumping on his head. He smiled down at the two soulless girls, before angrily swatting at the black pork bun sitting on top of his head.

"Welcome back Watanuki; feeling better?" Yuuko greeted with a too sly smile.

"I guess, though I'm not sure what 'better' is when I'm recovering from spiritual soul eating poison and a sword wound," he snapped bitterly, that smile of hers putting him on guard.

"That's wonderful! You haven't been pushing yourself too hard on your first day up and about have you?" she asked, brightening up at his tone instead of taking it seriously.

"Why does _no one_ think I can take care of myself?" He threw up his arms angrily, and winced, immediately regretting the action. "I'm just fine, it's not like I've never been injured before!"

"Of course not. You act like there is something wrong with your employer being concerned for your health." Yuuko faked hurt, faked it really badly considering she was still smiling.

He glared at her, still not sure what she was getting at, but deciding against pushing it. Whatever she had up her sleeve he wasn't going to be able to avoid anyway. "There is nothing wrong with an employer being worried except when it's you." He muttered it, half under his breath, and stomped past her, gathering his apron and feather duster. Knowing this shop, he was going to have a year's worth of dust for the short time he had been out.

The conversation seemed over there, but he could feel Yuuko's eyes following him as he cleaned. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and he turned around, a little too quickly from the wave of dizziness, and confronted her. "WHAT? WOULD YOU JUST STOP STARING ALREADY AND SAY SOMETHING?"

"Someone is in a bad mood today." Now suddenly, she seemed completely uninterested in him, like she hadn't been watching him like a hawk from the moment he had entered the shop.

She was so annoying sometimes. "YOU--"

"So, do you know how Doumeki purified the poison?" She spoke right over him, effectively cutting him off without raising her voice or changing her tone. He hated how she could do that.

"What?"

"It's a simple yes or no question Watanuki." She looked at him again, the smile on her face sending shivers down his spine with the look in her eyes to go along with it.

"No he didn't, and I didn't ask. As long as it was done what does it matter?" He turned back to his cleaning, not wanting to look at that look on his boss's face, it never meant anything good for him.

Yuuko moved to stand right behind him and her whisper in his ear made him shiver. Fingers traced mysteriously down his neck to his throat. "He gave you his blood."

"HE WHAT?!"

Watanuki whirled around, but the smug and fox-like smile on Yuuko's face only made him wish he hadn't. She held his chin in her hands and how she could mix the expression of seriousness with a leer and a smug look, he didn't know, but he'd love to learn if he didn't hate the expression so.

"Mixing with your blood is Doumeki's. It flows through your veins and arteries, filling you with his essence." Her fingers trailed down his arm to where a major artery was and her smile widened dramatically. "Now you truly are one in all respects."

His face exploded in red and he nearly combusted. As if aware of what reaction he would have, she danced out the way of the swat of the feather duster, regardless of the fact that he could have opened his wounds again. He ranted and raved at the top of his lungs until his face didn't turn red anymore except by rage.

"Watanuki."

Her serious tone made him calm down and look at her in surprise. Her eyes looked at him and she said, "Hitsuzen is strong. It was hitsuzen that put you together with Doumeki. But it's now Doumeki that's guiding the hitsuzen. No matter what you do now, you will always be bound together. It's a bond of blood and it will never be broken. It can be stretched, distorted, and twisted at your will, but you can never escape it."

"I don't understand."

She turned away for a moment and looked at Maru and Moro silently for a moment. "Blood is a very, very strong thing, Watanuki. It is as potent as a soul. Blood is what attracts the spirits to you. Blood is what lets Doumeki repel them for you. And blood is now what binds you two together. Blood has strengthened hitsuzen. Now it's up to you what you want to do with it."

He watched in confusion as she swept away regally the way she did when she gave a particularly deep comment about how the world worked.

This is Oro-chan's story that I helped her out with. Orochimaruhan and I posted on the xxxholic and the doumekiwatanuki livejournal communities. We also don't own xxxholic.


	10. Chapter 10

Watanuki didn't want to admit that Yuuko's words had bothered him, but, like a lot of things she said, they did. He knew better than to dismiss anything she said out of hand, no matter how weird is seemed or even if is seemed she was joking. Because, even when she was joking, she wasn't.

He was irreversibly bonded with Doumeki Shizuka? What was he supposed to think of that? He had always claimed Doumeki was his greatest rival. That he was annoyed by him, hated him, and would show him up one day. Yet, here he was, bonded through blood with his archrival, living in the same house, and cooking and cleaning for him like it was the most natural thing in the world. What scared him most was that it _felt_ like the most natural thing in the world.

Himawari's words from when he had first moved into the Doumeki household came back to him. _"You two are such good friends because you fight."_ Were they really good friends? It was hard to think in terms like that after so many years of adamantly rejecting the idea. But, thinking back on it, everything that had happened between them down to the admittedly one-sided fights pointed towards friendship.

Damn, this was confusing. He _hated_ thinking like this, he _hated_ when his world got turned upside down, and for no better reason than Yuuko had decided to say something creepy, again. This was not the first time, by far, that she had confused his outlook on the world. No, he was beginning to think it was her favorite pastime, next to reading yaoi manga anyway.

In less than a week, she had managed to say a handful of interconnected things specifically designed to mess with his brain. He didn't doubt for a second that she had planned it that way either. First the comment about not granting the wish you asked for, then the comment about Doumeki having some sort of wish, and finally that stupid, _stupid_, blood comment. He hated his boss.

Watanuki did, however, manage to push the thought from his mind. He just had to concentrate on doing things without over exhorting himself in the process. It wasn't that the wound was bad, just awkward, and really itchy now that it was healing. He couldn't stretch too far in any given direction without it pulling, and he didn't want it to reopen. Those two days out had been hell on his body too. It was like he was recovering from more than a month of being deathly ill, rather than one night. He was too easily tired out, and even he could tell he still looked pale. At least it was improving.

He didn't know if he could call his recovery quick, but given the alternative, he was more than happy with it. Yuuko said by the end of the week he would be in perfect health again. That _would_ have been encouraging if not for her evil smile and that laugh of hers. She acted like she knew something about his recovery that he didn't, and as infuriating as that was, she probably did.

Life, for the most part, was relatively normal. Or, as normal as it could ever be. He was back working at the shop on a daily basis, Doumeki was still walking him everywhere like some sort of God damn babysitter, and the idiot had stopped pulling his shirt up at random times to check the bandages. As normal as his life could ever be.

He would never admit, not even to himself, that he had enjoyed those study sessions while he had been bed ridden, nor would he admit that, while Doumeki's parents and grandmother were wonderful people whom he loved like a family of his own, he had missed the big quiet idiot while he sat there for nearly a week. Really, he only had needed someone to yell at, and since he didn't have to worry about the stony faced archer yelling back, who better?

Too many weird thoughts recently, that was for certain. He was losing his mind. That had to be it; all of this was some elaborate plot to make him lose his mind. It made sense really, and sounded just like something Doumeki and Yuuko would plot about. Though, he wasn't quite sure he could see them plotting together. Those two loved to mess with him though, and he never knew what to expect; admittedly, Doumeki usually stuck to pushing his buttons openly.

He was still musing as he sat on the grass, watching the other boys on the track as they ran. Thanks to his injury, he was exempted from a lot of the stuff that they did in gym class. His eyes lingered on Doumeki, and his thoughts from before made him scowl. He looked away just in time to miss the glance that said archer cast at him.

"Watanuki-kun, I hope you get better soon."

Watanuki jerked to look behind him at Himawari. He smiled as she sat down next to him, dressed in her summer gym clothes. "Himawari chan, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the girls?"

She nodded. "Yes, but I thought I'd come to see how you were. You haven't been participating in any of the gym stuff. Does your injury still hurt that much?"

It was so like her, he thought, to worry about him like that. "It doesn't really hurt, but I just don't want to reopen--"

"Kunogi!"

"Oops, sorry Watanuki kun, I have to go."

With a sigh, he watched her leave. He didn't even realize that the boys had stopped running until he felt a presence at his back. He didn't even have to guess who it was; he knew it with a bone-deep certainty. And it completely scared him and brought another terrifying thought. Was this a side effect of the whole blood bond thing?!

"What do you want?"

But Doumeki didn't say anything and he could feel the scrutinizing stare for the rest of the day.

It was later, after work, when he was cleaning that he felt that presence at his back again. This time he told himself that he knew it was Doumeki because no one else in the house would stand behind him and not say anything like that.

Slowly he turned around to glare at the other boy. "What? Do you just _like_ to stand behind me and weird me out or something?" He actually made the mental note not to yell inside the house. It wasn't easy, but he was managing a little at a time.

Doumeki stood there in silence for what seemed far too long, and Watanuki couldn't help but fidget, wondering if he had something on his face or a kick me sign on his back. "What?!"

"Something has been bothering you lately," Doumeki stated, calmly, as if he had just come to a conclusion he felt Watanuki should know about.

"Like you and your staring," he bit back, growing more irritated by the second

"That's not what I meant. It's something else."

"What makes you think anything other than your incessant staring has been bothering me?" It was getting very hard not to yell, his voice rising with each sentence. "You think just because I get annoyed with your creepy staring that something is wrong? That's just stupid."

Doumeki removed his fingers from his ear, and Watanuki made an extra note to not yell, though he didn't think it would help. "You've been weird all week, and you've rearranged that book shelf fifteen times today."

Watanuki could feel his cheeks heating. He had _not_ rearranged the bookshelf fifteen times today, had he? "So what? It's not like it's any of your business!" _"But what if it is? What does this bond mean? I hope it doesn't mean he can read my thoughts or anything sometimes, like how he can sometimes see what I see. What if he can?!_ His mind was going a million miles a minute, and he had the feeling Doumeki could tell at least that something odd was going through his mind.

"When something is bothering you, it usually means trouble for me. So it would be easier if you told me now." Doumeki sounded bored, but Watanuki knew otherwise. Doumeki _always_ sounded bored, but when he brought something up it usually meant he cared at least a little. The archer wasn't one to waste too much energy on pointless conversation.

Watanuki sighed, giving up. He might as well tell Doumeki what Yuuko had said, because it was technically his business since they were supposed to be bonded to each other now.

"The other day, Yuuko told me what you had to do to save me. That you gave me some of your blood to cleanse the poison." He paused, trying to think how to word what he wanted to say. "She said it bonded us… forever. That we could twist and warp the bond however we want, but it would never break." He stared at the ground, waiting for the archer's reaction. It probably wasn't going to be pretty.

Silence again, then, "We were bonded before that." Watanuki's head snapped up, blue eyes locking on golden, unable to read what he saw there. "Before we had the eye, now we share blood." Watanuki's eyes widened in realization, Doumeki was right, Yuuko had just failed to point out the fact before wanting to mess with his mind.

"You… you're right." His voice was almost a whisper, and he felt the need to sit down, but couldn't bring himself to move. "But, that just means that I'll always be relying on your for protection, always." It seemed like a horrible thing, to both himself, and to place such a burden unintentionally on Doumeki.

"I know." The answer brought his attention back to the archer. His face was unreadable as always, but it seemed to have softened. "I'll always be able to protected you a little, even when I'm not there." Watanuki felt like he should say something, but Doumeki continued. "I want to protect you."

"Why? Why would you want to have to do that for your entire life?" He was in shock, that was the only word for it. He couldn't even bring himself to yell; he didn't know what he would yell about.

Doumeki seemed to hesitate. It was hard to tell, but that's what the brief pause felt like. "That's my wish." Doumeki turned to leave, leaving Watanuki slack jawed, beet red, and speechless.

This is Oro-chan's story that I helped her out with. Orochimaruhan and I posted on the xxxholic and the doumekiwatanuki livejournal communities. We also don't own xxxholic. 


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